As the latest Northwest Multiple Listing Service Report shows, condo inventory has lagged behind even while single-family housing inventory has grown. System-wide, the month ended with 2.56 months of supply for both, but condo supply remained sparse with just .34 months.

Both are still well below what market analysts like to see in a balanced market (four to six months of inventory). But the condo market has remained harder to break into despite inventory rising nearly 70 percent from a year ago.

According to brokers cited in the NWMLS report, the shortage is expected to ease somewhat as construction progresses on "several recently-announced high-rise projects." That won't, however, likely solve the problem for buyers looking to buy in the short term.

Then again, maybe time is something they need: According to a new report from Zillow, it can take years to save for a down payment on a median valued home in the Seattle metro. More than a decade, even.

According to the real estate company, in order for Seattle-area people to save for a 20 percent down payment on a home (which their median has at $492,700) it takes about 11.7 years.

That's a bit more than the seven years it takes nationwide, and considerably longer than 20 years ago, when Zillow said it took 7 years to save for a 20 percent down payment, if someone earning a median income in Seattle put away 10 percent every month.